What the FY2027 request buys
Verbatim from the R-2A exhibit for project 650015 of PE 1206855SF. This is the budget justification's own description of work that has not happened yet — the one thing no other level of the budget carries.
The GRIFFON program will continue efforts in the Execution Phase of the Software Acquisition Pathway for integration and testing across the entire ESS architecture, to include the Ground software applications, framework, terminals, and test sites. Continue maturation of the ESS ground framework and integration prototype. Complete Systems Engineering work in support of the System-Level CDR in FY 2027. The GIF/SoSI vendor, with the program office as the lead systems integrator, will continue to run the Ground Assembly, Integration, and Test (Ground AI&T) minimum viable product (MVP) integration test with a projected exit of Ground AI&T in FY 2027. The Ground AI&T milestone will be the defining event that will encapsulate, integrate, and test all of ESS GRIFFON software applications and capabilities into the system architecture. The Ground AI&T milestone is the first integration test on the road to Initial Operational Capability (IOC)and precedes the next integration test milestone, System AI&T, in FY 2028. The down-selected Mission Planning (MP) application developer will continue development and integration in support of Ground AI&T. The MP prototype releases will be integrated with space, crypto, terminal, and ground framework segments. Continue development of the Out-of-Band Command and Control (OOB-C2) application MVP capability during the Phase 1 period and support continued integration and testing throughout Ground AI&T. Prepare and release a solicitation for the Phase 2 OOB- C2 application development with contract award expected in early FY 2028. Phase 2 will complete application development through System AI&T and continue mission integration and testing through FY 2030. The In-Band Command and Control (IB-C2) software application will continue development and integration to support Ground AI&T testing with the Ground Framework and other mission applications throughout FY 2027. The Ground AI&T IB-C2 testing will be performed in an operationally-relevant test environment with the, MIT-LL developed, Terminal Management Plane Emulator (TMP-E) and System Test Terminal. The ESS Command and Control (C2) Terminals (i.e., Family of Advanced Beyond-Line-of-Sight Terminal (FAB-T) Command Post Terminal (CPT) will be modernized for cryptographic, cybersecurity, resiliency, survivability, and interoperability requirements, necessary to support ESS and meet critical Ground Segment, Space Segment, and systems integration need dates, as well as the production and fielding of 4 ESS C2 terminal pre-production units in support of Systems AI&T in FY 2028, Initial Launch Capability (ILC), IOC, and FOC milestones. The ESS Ground Resiliency initiative will be leveraging both existing and commercial capabilities to prototype a more robust and effective ground architecture compared to the legacy system, utilizing IL-6/ IL-7 cloud capabilities and data transport connections. Continue prototype maturation throughout FY 2027, as well as integration and test with software applications, framework, and ground components during Ground AI&T. Award the alternative C2 Terminals and OOB-C2 commercial efforts. Begin terminal architecture design, implementation and test plan development. Begin prototyping the OOB-C2 Terminal application. Complete initial integration testing and connectivity with PKMA and cryptographic modernization efforts with the NSA. Continue development activities in support of the ground segment and system/mission integration schedules.
FY 2027 funding increased due to scope of Ground AI&T activities, System-Level CDR support, concurrent ramp-up of system level integration and test planning for Systems AI&T in FY 2028, and the production and fielding of 4 C2 Terminals. GRIFFON transitioned from BA 04 Project 643725 in FY 2026 to BA 05 Project 650015 in FY 2027
FY2026: the year under way
Prior-year accomplishments and current-year plans from the same exhibit. Context for the FY2027 plan, not a series — an activity partitions its project exactly in the request year, but can under-cover it in earlier years.
(Project 643725 BA 04) The GRIFFON program will continue within the Execution Phase of the Software Acquisition Pathway and will begin a critical year for integration and testing across the entire ESS architecture, to include all Ground software applications, framework, and test sites. Continue Maturation of the ESS ground framework and integration prototype. The GIF/SoSI vendor will define and develop the Ground Assembly, Integration, and Test (Ground AI&T) minimum viable product (MVP) and run the integration test with all ESS vendors and system capabilities in FY 2026, with a projected exit of Ground AI&T in FY 2027. The Ground AI&T milestone will be the defining event that will encapsulate, integrate, and test all of ESS Ground's individual software applications and capabilities into the system architecture. The Ground AI&T milestone is the first integration test on the road to Initial Operational Capability (IOC), immediately preceding the next integration milestone testing of System AI&T in FY 2028. System AI&T will include testing Ground with the Space, Crypto, and Terminal segments, and will ensure that the system is interoperable and capable to enter into integrated launch testing. The Mission Planning prototype will be down-selected from two to one vendor and then will be integrated with the space, crypto, terminal, and ground framework segments. The Mission Planning prototype will then begin integrating with operational users and building test and training applications with the GIF/SoSI vendor. All integration issues found during Ground AI&T testing will be fixed in FY 2026 in an agile ramp up to ensure software is mission capable upon exit of Ground AI&T in FY 2027. The Out-of-Band Command and Control (OOB-C2) software application vendors will begin modernization of the legacy software to integrate with the Ground framework. The In-Band Command and Control (IB-C2) software application will begin development and testing with the Ground Framework and other mission applications. IB-C2 will begin integration efforts and testing in an operationally relevant environment. The ESS C2 Terminals will be modernized for cryptographic, cybersecurity, resiliency, survivability, and interoperabilty requirements, necessary to support ESS and meet critical ground segment, space segment, and systems integration need dates. ESS must enter Ground Assembly, Integration and Test in FY 2026 to meet the USSTRATCOM threat-driven strategic need date by FY 2032. The production and fielding effort for C2 terminals is broken out into launch readiness, IOC requirements, and FOC requirements, to ensure the right terminals are fielded just in time for each of those milestones. While this effort may have begun in FY 2025, it will continue in FY 2026 with production of first articles required for launch readiness. Continue technology maturation of multiple GRIFFON prototype demonstration contracts that will conclude with a successful exit of Ground AI&T in FY 2027. Interoperability testing and integration patches will be developed in an agile DevSecOps pipeline to also ensure cyber resilience is a part of delivered software. Resilient technology studies will ensure the fielded system addresses current threat scenarios for endurance capability, command and control, mission control, and user terminal interface. Fund prototype technology maturation, system integration, and Ground AI&T testing in order to ensure an integrated, interoperable, secure software framework and cyber secure software delivery pipeline, software applications, and user interfaces with the enterprise community. Further mature a development, security, and operations (DevSecOps) pipeline for software vendors to test their applications on the ground framework to conduct end-to-end integration testing. Conduct early integration testing at government sites. Maintain user agreements with operational sites outlining deliveries and key milestones to ensure system functionality by FY 2029, prior to the first ESS space launch. Conduct integration testing and connectivity with Protected SATCOM Key Management Architecture (PKMA) and cryptographic modernization efforts with the NSA. Communicate any necessary modifications to legacy terminal programs to ensure entire integrated system functions within modernized cyber architecture. Continue development activities in support of the ground segment and system/mission integration schedules. GRIFFON transitioned from BA 04 Project 643725 in FY 2026 to BA 05 Project 650015 in FY 2027
Three years, and no five-year plan
An R-2A activity publishes the prior year, the current year and the budget year. The FYDP outyears exist at project and program-element level and are deliberately absent here rather than inferred. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure.
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | Enacted | 0.0 |
| FY2027 | Request | 519.6 |
This activity is 91% of project 650015's FY2027 request and 28% of PE 1206855SF's. In the request year the activities under a project sum to it exactly; in the current year they under-cover it in about 9% of cases, so an activity's delta can legitimately exceed its parent's and the two must not be compared row to row.
2 activities in project 650015
Every R-2A line of this project, largest FY2027 request first. Linked where the activity has enough of its own narrative to carry a page; the rest are shown in full on the project page.